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Do you find that there's many school nights where you're exhausted and the last thing you want to do is make dinner?
Or days you're busy and get home late or don't make it home for dinner at all but your family needs dinner?
Or even nights where you have no good excuse but you simply just don't feel like spending a long time making dinner?
If this is you, you're not alone. I felt this way and it wasn't until I started making FREEZER MEALS. It lowkey changed my life.
Now I've been making and using them consistently for over 2 years! Taking some time to prep freezer meals in advance will save you lots of stress and time in the future when you don't have the time.
I personally love to make freezer meals that can be thrown into the instant pot to slow cook all day or thrown in and pressure cooked and ready in a short amount of time.
I also like freezer meals where all you have to do is throw them in the oven. This means I can have dinner ready even on nights where I get home later or my husband can easily make one if I'm not home to make dinner.
HELPFUL TIPS:
Double the recipes you make! You can even triple them if you wanted but I like to double the recipes I use and I typically make about 8-10 freezer meals at at time (so 4-5 recipes). I use about one freezer meal per week but if you want to use them more often than that then you could make more than 8 at a time! That way you're set for the next couple of months!
Always label your meals because they become unrecognizable after being in the freezer awhile! Label with the name and date so you know how long it's been in the freezer. I also like to write the basic cooking instructions so I don't have to find the recipe to know what to do with it! (Example: "Slow Cook for 6-8 hrs" or "Bake 375 for 1 hr").
I HIGHLY recommend getting these bag holders from Amazon. They make it so much easier to prep freezer meals in gallon bags! If you're going to make freezer meals that will go in the oven I recommend putting the meals in a foil tin .
Squeeze as much air as possible out from bags and cool before storing in the freezer to avoid freezer burn and have the best tasting quality.
Lay the bags flat when you first put them in the freezer and then once frozen you can store them upright and access them easier that way.
We have a stand up freezer in our garage (we got it for a screaming deal at the scratch n dent section in RC Willey) and it allows me to store so many more freezer meals! If it's possible for you to get a second freezer--even a used one--it will definitely allow you to make more!
You can portion out individual servings of soup in 1 pint mason jars for an easy grab and go meal-- perfect for taking lunch to work! Meal Plan Addict explains this here!
HELPFUL TO KNOW:
Freezer meals typically are good for up to 90 days, but using them before 60 days will probably ensure the best quality.
Thaw in the fridge first before cooking--especially for slow cooker! I find that my meals need AT LEAST 24 hours in the fridge because of how cold our stand up freezer is. I try to take them out of the freezer about 36-48 hours and put them in the fridge.
Make sure to use ziploc bags that say "FREEZER" on them like these. You can also use reusable freezer bags like these. Glass containers work as well just make sure you don't put them in the freezer still hot, and make sure to thaw in fridge before heating.
If a recipe calls for rice or pasta you'll need to either cook it then freeze it (separately) or you can just still make that the night of when you're cooking the freezer meal. I don't mind making rice the day of since I just throw it in my instant pot.
Don't refreeze previously frozen food--it's fine to use frozen chicken in a freezer meal but don't get it back in the freezer before it's thawed. If you cook a freezer meal and don't finish it, DON'T put it back in the freezer!
YUMMY FREEZER MEAL RECIPES
I shared 10 easy yummy freezer meal recipes here that I still love & make!
Now I'm sharing ten MORE freezer meal recipes with you!
1. LASAGNA CASSEROLE | Oven Freezer Meal
This is a favorite in our house! Any Italian pasta meal with lots of cheese is a major comfort food for me! So yummy and all you do is let it bake in the oven--sometimes my husband will put it in for me before I am even home. So nice to come home to dinner ready!
2. BBQ APPLESAUCE CHICKEN | Slow Cooker Meal
Okay we were pleasantly surprised by this one! I wasn't sure how we'd feel about it but it's delicious! You like it over rice or on sandwiches! Super easy to prepare too!
3. RED PEPPER CHICKEN | Slow Cooker Meal
This is another quick one to prepare especially with a veggie chopper to chop the red bell peppers! I'm a huge fan of bell peppers so this was a no brainer to try!
4. CREAM CHEESE CHICKEN + PASTA | Instant Pot Freezer Meal
I'm also a big fan of cream cheese so this creamy chicken pasta was calling my name! This is an instant pot meal which we love because it's extra fast but you could slow cook it too if you wanted to throw it in in the morning before work and come home to it. You do need to still cook the pasta the night of unless you wanna serve it over rice--you can schedule rice to cook in your instant pot!
5. STUFFED SHELLS | Oven Freezer Meal
This is kind of a fun recipe and it is vegetarian but sometimes I like to add ground meat to the mixture that you stuff the shells with. You could also eat it along with meat you grilled! Again, I love an oven meal cause my husband is so capable of throwing this in the oven and can have dinner made without me even there!
6. HAWAIIAN CHICKEN | Slow Cooker Freezer Meal
This one calls for only 4 ingredients! I grew up having Hawaiian meatballs but hadn't ever had Hawaiian chicken! Love that there's options for how to serve this--Serve it over rice, on sandwiches, or even on pasta! We love it on rice.
7. SALSA VERDEO PORK TACOS | Slow Cooker Freezer Meal
This is a yummy dish and SO quick to pull out and dump in a slow cooker in the morning before work! Slow cooks for 7--8 hours and I like to schedule rice in my small instant pot to go with it! You can also serve on fajita tortillas.
8. CHICKEN BACON RANCH TAQUITOS | Oven Freezer Meal
Anything with bacon is delicious right? You can actually put these in the oven frozen if needed so it's an extra great last minute option to have!
9. CHICKEN ALFREDO BAKE | Oven Freezer Meal
I'll admit this recipe does take more work to prep before freezing but it is so yummy! I like to make this for us to eat that day and then double it so I can freeze a second and the next time it's super easy to have!
10. TACO SOUP | Instant Pot Freezer Meal
I like to cook up a bunch of ground meat from Costco and freeze it so it's ready to use and that makes this recipe a dump and go recipe which is so nice! Again with it being an instant pot recipe you could also slow cook it instead
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